Spontaneously Splitting Copper Nanowires into Quantum Dots on Graphdiyne for Suppressing Lithium Dendrites

As an emerging carbon allotrope, the controllable growth of graphdiyne has been an important means to explore its unique scientific properties and applications. In this work, the effect of the crystal structure of copper (Cu) on the growth of graphdiyne is systematically studied. It is found that the crystal boundaries are the origin of the reaction activity. The polycrystalline Cu nanowire with many crystal boundaries is spontaneously split into Cu quantum dots (about 3 nm) by the grown graphdiyne. These Cu quantum dots are uniformly dispersed on the graphdiyne, and they block the long-range ordered growth of the graphdiyne. These Cu quantum dots in situ supported on graphdiyne demonstrate high efficiency in inhibiting the growth of lithium dendrites in lithium metal batteries. Based on this interesting finding, the Cu quantum dots anchored on the all-carbon graphdiyne can be prepared on a large scale, and unique applications of Cu quantum dots in electrochemical fields can be implemented.